In a fiery speech on the morning of Day 1, Richard Gephardt again proved why he remains a Boilermaker “favorite son.” The former U.S. Congressman from Missouri spoke passionately about the burning issues facing labor today: fair trade, healthcare availability, pension protection, a minimum wage increase, and card check neutrality.

Gephardt, who received strong Boilermaker backing in his 2004 run for the presidency, said the fact that he had health insurance in 1972 saved the life of his two-year-old son, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His son is 35 years old today, and a father himself. “All Americans deserve health care!” Gephardt declared.

“He said, ‘You sold me an insurance policy in Denver.’” ─ Richard Gephardt, describing the things people tell him when they mistake his identity.

Gephardt said free trade instead of fair trade is destroying the American middle class. “We’ve lost clothes, shoes, and now we’re losing autos,” he said, referring to U.S. industries being ruined by free trade policies.

To protect Social Security and pensions, to level the playing field in labor/management relations, and stop the loss of good jobs, Gephardt called on delegates to continue the fight. “If this was easy, we’d have done it by now,” he said.

He commended the assembled delegates and the Brotherhood for their years of hard work on behalf of working families, and brought them to their feet with his rallying cry to “Keep on keeping on!”